‘Roseanne’ Tackles Opioid Addiction In Heavy Penultimate Episode

The ABC reboot aired its penultimate episode on Tuesday with one bleak reveal: Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr) is addicted to opioids.

While we didn’t see this one coming, the show did mention Roseanne’s bad knee and her family’s rising healthcare costs throughout the season. Things reached a new level on this week’s episode, when Roseanne and Dan’s (John Goodman) 45th wedding anniversary celebration led to him discovering her addiction to painkillers.

“You’re hoarding pills, you sent me out for more, you blame the kids. All lies,” Dan said. “45 years of marriage, you’ve never lied to me like this before. Or have you?”

“No. I just didn’t say anything because we can’t afford the surgery and I got these pills because I’m going to be dealing with this for a long time,” Roseanne replied, trying to find a good reason for her drug abuse. “You don’t have any idea how bad it hurts.”

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Dan insisted that he did know what she was going through because of his bad back, and said that he wanted her to schedule the surgery she needed, no matter how much it cost. “Look, if it’s between you OD’ing and me coming up with the money, I’ll figure out something. In the meantime, I’ll give you one pill every six to eight hours for post-operative pain,” he said.

“I’ve got to take a walk,” he added, after administering Roseanne’s medication and leaving the room, “I know you can do this.”

It was then that Roseanne proved her problem was serious, as she promptly headed to fridge to retrieve her rubber ice pack — and pulled out a plastic bag full of pills.

ET’s Leanne Aguilera caught up with Barr at ABC’s upfront presentation in New York City on Tuesday, where the actress teased how things will play out in the season finale.

“The thing I like about the last show is that it’s really John Goodman [who] carries it, and you know, he has so many fans of his acting,” Barr said. “He’s just fantastic, and I know everyone’s gonna love it.”